apworld - p5ch5social

Development and transformation of social structures

Theme	How does this theme apply to your civilization?
Gender roles and relations	Chinese Society vested authority principally in elderly males who headed their households. Women's duties included mostly indoor activites such as wine making and weaving, whereas men spent most of their time outside, working in fields, hunting, and fishing. Chinese society honored female members of the family even though they did not have authority The male head of the family held the ceremonies honoring ancestors spirits. Women lived increasingly in the shadow of men.
Family and kinship	The early dynastys ruled their territories largely through family and kinship groups. In China the extended family played a prominent role in the shaping of both private and public affairs during the Shang and Zhou dynastys. In the early days agricultural people in China believed that if they diligently tended to the graves of their ancestors that their spirits would support and protect their surviving family.
Racial and ethnic constructions
Social and economic classes	During the Shang and Zhou dynastys the royal family occupied the most honored positions in Chinese Society. Aristocrats were also honored as they posessed exteensive land holdings and they worked administrative and military tasks. There was a sizeable class of slaves most of whom were enemy warriors captured during battles. Many slaves performed hard labor or were sacreficed during funerary, religious or other types of rituals.